In recent years federal and state authorities have imposed severe restrictions in respect of the amount of dust which is permissible when a particulate commodity such as grain is discharged from a storage facility such as a grain elevator into a transport facility. This has lead to development of dust suppressors for attachment to the discharge ends of grain elevator discharge spouts. Applicants have not conducted a search of the patented art and they do not not have detailed knowledge of the construction and operation of other dust suppressors. However, they do have general knowledge of three prior art dust suppressors.
One such prior art dust suppressor is that of Cargill, Inc. As understood by applicants, the Cargill suppressor operates on an induced draft aspiration principle, drawing off the dust created as the grain flows downward in a grain spout from the elevator and in some fashion forcing the dust back into the grain. It is understood by applicants that the Cargill dust suppressor weighs between 700 to 1,000 pounds as compared with 300 pounds for applicants' dust suppressor of the same grain flow capacity.
A second prior art dust suppressor generally known to applicants is that of Buhler-Miag. Reportedly, the Buhler-Miag suppressor utilizes electrically operated gate valves for creating a "dead box" effect to reduce the dust discharged from the end of the grain spout. It has also been reported to applicants that the Buhler-Miag dust suppressor of comparable flow capacity to that of the applicants weighs approximately 2,500 pounds.
A third dust suppressor of the prior art generally known to the applicants is that of GEM. Applicants have been informed that the GEM suppressor operates in a fashion somewhat similar to that of Buhler-Miag, utilizing electrically operated gate valves. It is understood that the GEM suppressor of a capacity similar to applicants' suppressor weighs in the neighborhood of 6,000 pounds.